Armchair Traveller 6 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Fez, Morocco

The University of Al Quaraouiyine was founded in Fez by a woman named Fatima al-Fihri. It first opened in 859 and is, according to UNESCO and Guinness World Records, the oldest functioning university in the world. In its beginnings, it was a hub for spirituality and education.

The university's religious focus remained into the 21st century, as it mainly offers courses on Islam and legal sciences, as well as classical Arabic.

Answer: False

Santa Cruz del Islote is an artificial island built off the coast of Colombia on a coral platform by families of fishers. The island is the size of a football pitch and in 2018, there were 115 houses which were home to 500 people. There was one school and a restaurant, but no running water or sewage system.

Many of the island's inhabitants were fishers, or worked on nearby islands in service industries.

Answer: An Italian food park

Eataly World is a food park that opened its doors in 2017. It is a 20-acre complex with food stalls, restaurants, orchards, and gardens. The park is themed around Italian food, with workshops running on things like pressing olive oil and making pasta from scratch.

Answer: The King's Pathway

The King's Pathway got its name from King Alfonso XIII who visited the site in 1921 when it was a service path to the hydroelectric power plant in El Chorro. The walkway is 1m wide, 3km long, and rises 100m above the gorge. After several fatalities, the deteriorated walkway was closed in 2000. It was renovated and reopened in 2015.

The rocks along the route contain marine fossils from the Jurassic period. There are also several Neolithic sites around the gorge that are around 7,000 years old.

Answer: The fall of Communism

After Communism, there wasn't much money to go around in Bulgaria. People set up shops in their basements and in underground bunkers, with hatches opening out onto the street. Because the shops were partly below the ground, the hatches had to be very close to the ground. Customers have to crouch to get to them.

These kleks were some of the first private businesses to be set up in the country after the fall of Communism.

Answer: He made a record of the artwork at various subway stations.

The New York City Subway is full of art: mosaics and plaques adorn most - if not all - stations in the city. Phillip Coppola noticed that renovations had damaged a mosaic at a station in 1978, so he decided to record the artwork he saw. Coppola has published books containing his drawings and some have been exhibited at Grand Central.

The books also contain the stories behind some of the artwork, such as who designed them or details about the subject. In 40 years, he recorded the artwork at over 100 stations, with plans to cover the other 300 in the future.

Answer: The dough is evenly distributed and retains some moisture.

Moulding the pizza dough by hand can result in an uneven surface that won't cook properly in the oven. Flattening dough by hand can also cause unwanted tears in an otherwise perfect circle. Spinning by hand allows centrifugal force to evenly spread the dough across the pizza base. Some chefs also claim that tossing oxygenates the dough and prevents too much moisture being lost, which can happen when the dough is pressed into shape.

Neapolitan pizza is traditionally cooked at high temperatures in a wood-burning stone pizza oven. The dough is prepared by hand (without a rolling pin) and is usually topped with mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, fresh basil, and extra-virgin olive oil.

Answer: A Middle Eastern spa

In 2016, the Netherlands had a prison crisis: there weren't enough prisoners to fill the cells. As a result, a number of prisons were converted in subsequent years. They were turned into accommodation and small businesses like the hamam. A hamam is a Middle Eastern spa which, in Lola Lik, included a pool, massage suites, and a steam room. What made these businesses special? They were run by refugees seeking asylum, many from Syria where hamams are a significant part of the culture.

Answer: American bison

American bison nearly became extinct in late nineteenth century due to mass slaughter and habitat loss. Their numbers have increased slightly since then, though they are mostly confined to reserves and national parks. American bison live in meadows and grasslands, like those in Colorado.

Answer: An underground house

There are whole towns and villages, such as Sanmenxia in China, that were built underground. Building in this way dates back at least 4,000 years. Residents would dig a square pit, which would be a central courtyard. Then tunnels would be carved out to form individual rooms. If a new baby was born, a new tunnel would be dug underground.

Living underground protects residents from the wind and rain, and wells prevent the homes from flooding. The houses remain warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Some yaodong have been converted into museums of Chinese folk culture and hotels to promote tourism.